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Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Chopin "Mazurka in a minor" (posthumous) op. 67 no. 4

Let me first say that this piece was NOT in the Burkhart despite the Temko saying it was.

Anyway, the first section has two eight measure phrases. These phrases are very similar, though they do have some noticeable differences. I don't think this can be called a period though because both phrases end on a PAC. I would call them phrase a and a' with no period.

The next section has a similar sixteen measure format with two similar eight measure phrases. This one though has a feeling of an IAC in the fourth measure and no feeling of cadence before the phrase is repeated in the 9th bar. The reason it is not felt well is because the eighth measure is a secondary dominant chord and the melody has eighth notes that flow right into the ninth measure without any sort of pausing gesture. I guess it could be called a half cadence but I don't really hear it. The IAC in the second phrase is the same in the fourth bar but this time the phrase ends on an authentic cadence. I would call this a parallel period.

The third section has an immediate modulation to A major. It is really hard to tell any sort of cadence in this. I have a hard time hearing this as a cadence but there is an IAC in the ninth measure that could be a cadence. There is no pause at this point and the chord immediately changes with the addition of a G natural. There's a little teaser in the 14th bar of the phrase with an IAC that is held by a fermata, but the real PAC doesn't come until the sixteenth bar.

The last two sections are a repetition of the first two sections with a common tone modulation back into a minor.